Hi, Jodie!
You could very well be a contralto! The contralto break (as I was taught by
Weldon Whitlock and again, everybody has their own individual concept of this)
occurs at the b above middle c. If your pure upper register starts on that c,
I'd say you're a contralto. If your lower register goes up to the c, I'd say
you're a mezzo who breaks early. Whitlock told me and my voice teacher that
many voice teachers truly don't know how to "classify" voices, which was one of
his specialties. I've personally heard alot of "contraltos" who weren't and
quite a few "mezzos" who weren't! Mis-classification is VERY common!
Don't worry. You need to know the mezzo repertoire if you want to earn a
living. Look at the track records of Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Louise Homer and
Margarete Klose for instance. They all sang both contralto and mezzo
repertoire! Schumann-Heink had eight children to feed and Louise Homer had six
children. A need was present for both of these artists to be as busy as
possible 100% of the time! Versatility is a VIRTUE!! In the college setting
you can usually change voice teachers if you aren't happy with the one you have.
Obviously, this isn't always a possibility, tho. You can also totally peeve
the professor you need on your side to graduate, so be careful there, too. It
can put a bur in their saddle to hear that "Mr. X, Ms. Y and Mrs. Z tell me I'm
a contralto because of a, b & c. You say I'm a mezzo. Please justify your
conclusion." Politics is dirty. College politics can be extremely so. Be
careful. Learn the mezzo rep. Learn the contralto rep. Learn the
"straddle" (shared rep by mezzos & sopranos) rep. It can only be helpful to you
later on!
Ed
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